Category Archives: Uncategorized

Anti-immigrant critics who complain that, “They don’t want to learn English and become citizens” should see the action at CLUES. The Lake Street office bustled with activity on October 11. About 30 immigrants and lots of volunteers showed up for Citizenship Day, ready to complete the 21-page application and move on to filing. Continue reading →

Today’s article:  New right-to-farm laws protect Big Ag, not small farmers

“The new wave of state right-to-farm laws is meant to stop environmental regulation and animal rights activists and protect industrial-scale agriculture. Across the country, supporters of right-to-farm laws are demanding that there be no restrictions on fertilizer use or animal antibiotics — even when they are used solely for growth stimulation and create human health problems — and no limits on puppy mills or crowding and caging of farm animals. These laws threaten not only the environment but also the continuation of traditional and family farming.”

Click here to read the whole article!

And, in case you missed it, here’s an earlier post, also published on Al Jazeera:  US embrace of Cuban refugees underscores hypocrisy on immigration (August 26, 2014)

Beatriz Ramirez and her two young children moved into Chicago’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in September. Rosa Robles Loreto has lived in Tucson’s Southside Presbyterian Church since August. In Philadelphia, the Indonesian Mennonite Philadelphia Praise Center and the Jewish Tikkun Olam Havurah stand ready to welcome immigrants seeking sanctuary. They are part of a new sanctuary movement, with religious groups from Maine to California committing to shelter immigrants in danger of deportation. Besides offering sanctuary to immigrants, they challenge the country’s leaders to change harsh and punitive immigration laws. Continue reading →

Photo by Midquel, published under Creative Commons license. FFI – https://www.flickr.com/photos/39151655@N00/191432293

“A fish rots from the head down,” according to an old saying. The state shut down Community Action of Minneapolis (CAM), and executive director Bill Davis needs a good defense attorney, but the “head” of this and other non-profit organizations includes the board of directors. Even though CAM is dead, the problems that brought it down continue in other non-profit organizations. Continue reading →

When should the media publish photos and full names of crime victims? When two thirteen-year-old girls went missing, the sheriff sent out their names, descriptions and photos in a call to the public to help find them. That seemed like a necessary step in the search, and publishing the information could help. But after they were found, should news media continue to republish their full names and photos? Continue reading →

© Igor Zakowski – Fotolia

The new sharing economy masquerades as a people-to-people economy. That sounds friendlier than the corporate, profit-driven economy. Take a second look, thought, and this new sharing economy turns out to be the old corporate wolf in a new internet fleece. Continue reading →

(c) Rini Templeton

Teaching English led Artika Tyner to become a lawyer. “When I began student teaching,” she writes, “I witnessed firsthand the disparities in the school system influenced by factors such as race and poverty. This was a formative moment in my personal and professional development…. I became committed to shaping public policy and standing up for children. At this point, I also recognized that the law is a language of power and I wanted to learn this language in order to empower others in my community.” Continue reading →

“If you know one person with Alzheimer’s, you know one person with Alzheimer’s,” my mom reminds me often. Every person has his or her own story. Each story has different, heart-breaking details, as the disease steals away reason and personality and physical strength and coordination. One thing does not change: the disease moves inexorably onward. Continue reading →

Born into grinding poverty near the ancient Mayan city of Copán, Honduras, Margarita Murillo grew up into a lifetime of activism on behalf of campesino farmers, women, and the poor. She managed a brief period of schooling in between work and taking care of little sisters. By the age of 12 or 13, she had become an activist in the Catholic Church’s Caritas organization. Continue reading →

Yao Yang showed the open house tour group a small melon.

“Farmers often work twelve-hour days,” Yao Yang explained. Having water available near the field is a big deal. That’s often not the case on rented fields, but it’s an important part of the Hmong American Farm. So are the simple washing sheds where they can prepare produce for market, and the cooler where produce can be stored until it’s picked up for delivery.

The 16 farmers who rent five or ten-acre fields from the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA) are part of a project that includes research, cooperation and community. Continue reading →